**Authors note: Here we go almost done with the Gaara retrieval arc! :D I never realized how little fighting Naruto and Kakashi did until I had to write it out so I apologize for the lack of action!**
Rin
The first question that had spilled out was who did you kill; which earned me a hard look and a mild silent treatment. I mean what else did he expect when he mentioned his mangekyo?
"Hey sensei are you ready or what?" Naruto asked impatiently. Kakashi had his hands pressed together in a single hand sign as he focused.
"Hold your horses; remember I don't have as much as chakra or stamina as an Uchiha. I can't just fade into like Rin, It'll take some time." He replied.
"Then why doesn't Rin do it?" I noticed Kakashi sigh so I decided to take this one.
"Mangekyo is different from the regular Sharingan; it's more powerful for one thing but the amount of power and what you can achieve from it varies by user." I explained.
"So yours wouldn't work then?" I shook my head.
"Probably not, I mean the only thing I've tried with it is Amaterasu and it's hard to control so I could cause a forest fire that would burn for years." I told him as I pushed off the rock wall gaining a little height before landing a few feet in front of him.
"Kakashi sensei, are you about ready yet?" I glanced back at Kakashi as he lowered his hand.
"Preparations complete" I stared at his eye which had morphed into a shape that reminded me of a demon wind shuriken.
"Rin watch it!" I turned back about to hit one of the logs until a hand grabbed the back of my shirt and practically threw me back. I tried to turn mid-air until a pair of arms caught me instead and I looked up meeting the eyes of Kakashi.
"A little distracted don't you think?" I rolled my eyes.
"I didn't expect that, I thought you were lying"
"You know me better than that" He replied before letting me drop to my feet in time to push off another log. I smiled slightly and looked forward again.
"Let's just get this done, I'm tired of playing offense" Naruto nodded in agreement.
"Alright, you two better fall back a little" He warned. I motioned to Naruto who fell back but I kept within eye-distance watching his every move.
"Mangekyo" He muttered and I could see his chakra fluctuate as the jutsu began. I followed his gaze to Deidara and the air around him seemed to bend and twist as a point focused near his shoulder. The focal point of the jutsu seemed to move as we got closer and Deidara began to struggle. It continued to twist and bend until a sickening crack echoed in my ears and Deidara released a low scream as his arm was sucked into the void. I heard a slight grunt and the jutsu faded. I immediately looked back at Kakashi as he held a hand over his Sharingan eye.
"I missed" He muttered.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm still not very good at controlling the size or position of the barrier space."
"Look its okay, you got his..."
"But I'll get it right this time!" He let his hand drop and I felt the anger spark in me as he seemed to ignore my every word.
"You're wearing yourself down, once is enough!" I tried to reason but he continued to ignore me.
"Kakashi you're going to kill yourself, listen to me you idiot!" I released a slight groan of frustration as he pressed on jumping farther away from me. I released a slow breath then as I sped up, if he wasn't going to listen then I'd make him stop.
Deidara
I tried to fly faster, to even dodge the stupid thing but it was a lot harder with a damaged arm and without my other. Kakashi was relentless as that stupid void seemed to follow me making everything warp and spin around me. I needed to get out of range but that jutsu didn't seem to have one. Somehow, through the haze I noticed a slim figure push off a high branch and nearly stumbled off my bird when they landed just a few inches from me.
"R-Rin what the..."
"Kakashi is killing himself with this jutsu; I'm going to cast a genjutsu to stop him. Just stay out of my way." I stared at her back and felt a slight chill down my spine. I noticed the faint black chakra beginning to creep around her fingers. I led the bird higher and caught her belt before she could slip off.
"Hurry it up will you!"
"He has his sharingan activated you twit!"
"Then do something else before we both get killed!" She released an annoyed sigh and pulled a kunai from her pouch, I noticed the explosive note wrapped around the handle as she snapped her wrist and it flew straight. I could feel the pull of the vortex until an explosion went off and it suddenly disappeared. I made a sharp dive causing Rin to stumble into me. I leveled us out and smirked.
"Good I shook him off, thanks for the help" She shoved me suddenly.
"I did that for Kakashi's sake, not yours! Now then life for a life, I saved yours so give me Gaara's body" I chuckled.
"You chose to come up here, I agreed to nothing" Rin's anger amused me more than it should have and under normal circumstances, this would have just been another argument that would have lasted for an hour at most then we'd be at it again.
"Rasengan!" We both turned as the nine tails jumped from nowhere with a large ball of chakra in his hand aimed straight at us. I could see the fire in his eyes and even the slight confusion when he caught sight of Rin. I grabbed her wrist yanking her off the bird as I jumped back and his jutsu broke through the neck. I landed on a branch far from them and pulled on Rin's belt to keep her on the same level.
"There you go, a life for a life. I owe you nothing." She punched me then sending me into the trunk of the tree.
"You jerk!"
"I just saved your life!"
"That fall would have barely left a scratch!" I rolled my eyes.
"Whatever, can you heal my arms?"
"No"
"I thought you knew medical ninjutsu"
"That involves healing wounds not growing new limbs idiot" I was to shoot back a rebuttal until I heard a shout from above me. I shoved Rin off the branch as the nine-tails kid headed straight for me. This is what I get for giving my attention to the Uchiha brat.
Kakashi
Naruto's clones and Naruto were now taking care of Deidara while another clone and I stood back and watched. I felt the clone tense as Rin suddenly landed next to us on the same branch.
"You betrayed us." Her eyes hardened as she looked at the clone.
"Never, and don't ever say those words, not me" She hissed with as much venom as she could muster. I knew why; because Sasuke had accused her of the same crime.
"Then why did you help him?" I asked and her eyes moved to me.
"Because you wouldn't listen so I needed some way to cut off your reckless jutsu; once was enough, know your limits. What would have happened if you passed out? You'd be dead." She replied flatly before pressing her hands together in fast hand signs.
"Chakra strings" She muttered and I flinched when she slammed her hands against my back but released a sigh of relief when I felt her chakra merge with mine feeding it some strength.
"By the way, that's a clone" I snapped my eyes back to Naruto and his clones; sure enough beneath him lay nothing but a mess of clay. I noticed the red chakra beginning to bubble around him and in the same moment I felt Rin's hands tense before the jutsu cut off and she released a sudden scream. I got to my feet quickly to face her as she held her head tightly in her hands.
"Rin, Rin what's going on!?" She clenched her teeth as she dropped to one knee. I pulled her into me blocking her from the sudden blast of Naruto's chakra. I looked back at him as the second tail began to form; I didn't have much time. I carefully released Rin and jumped forward darting around him as I pulled out the seal. I managed to dodge his tails and appear in front of him slamming the seal against his forehead. It took a second but slowly the chakra began to recede. I waited till it was gone before removing the seal once more.
"Are you alright now, Naruto?" he was breathing heavily and Deidara was no longer in sight. I looked back at Rin who was resting on her knees with one hand placed firmly against the tree trunk while the other held her head and one of Naruto's clones kept a hand on her back as she released slow breaths.
"We finally found you guys!" Rin's head snapped up as Lady Chiyo and Sakura jumped from the bushes. I couldn't help but release a sigh of relief; these two were alive, they had won their battle. I noticed Rin's attention move elsewhere as Naruto and Sakura spoke and in the distance, I could hear fighting. She slipped off the branch seeming to follow the noise until Deidara faced with Team Gai stood before us. I noticed Rin's eyes fade to red as he took a bite from the body of his clay bird.
"Oh no" She breathed and shot forward.
"Deidara stop!" She shouted but he merely laughed as his body began to expand.
"Art is a bang!"
"Everyone get lost!" She shouted skidding to stop before the fiery mass of the explosion. I watched as she slammed her hands together in fast and unfamiliar hand signs.
"Ninja art dark style, shadow transportation jutsu!"